Silver Market takes a dip... Buy! Buy! Buy!

When I first started buying sterling silver materials from Rio Grande in 2009, the price of silver was around $18 per troy ounce. This was very cheap pricing for sterling silver. Some people even commented on how great my prices were when I was selling jewelry. Over the last few years, silver prices have been steadily increasing, making it more and more expensive for me to make jewelry. In May of this year, silver prices reached almost $50 per troy ounce. The big three metal markets (gold, silver and platinum) have been on the climb during the economy's downward spiral. How is the price of silver determined? I have no idea. I guess I should do some research on the subject. Rio Grande posts the price of silver daily on their website. Every day I check to see where it's at!

   

In the last few days silver prices have dropped dramatically. On September 21 silver was about $40, on September 26 it was about $29. Today's silver price is $30.91 per troy ounce. Nowhere near what I was paying a couple of years ago, but a hell of a lot better than $48/t.oz. (as it was in April of this year)!!

I placed an order last night (silver was at $30.92) through Rio Grande. Jump rings, wire guards, crimp beads and lobster clasps for making bracelets. 16 gauge sterling wire and half round patterned wire for making rings. Learning to make rings was one of the most exciting things ever! Most of the techniques I've learned I've found on the Internet, there are even videos on YouTube showing you how to make things!. There is a plethora of information out there in cyberspace! Anyway, I bought a lot of material so I will be making a lot of jewelry, although I'll probably end up making another purchase before the holiday season is over. I only bought silver items because I wanted to take advantage of the low prices. I'll buy other supplies at a later date. Rio Grande has a huge bead selection and also sells jewelry components made of other metals such as brass, copper and pewter. Of course they sell gold as well, but I've never liked gold. I suppose it would be in my best interest to make gold jewelry in order to have a wide variety of merchandise and appeal to a wider audience, but I'm so damn stubborn. And gold is currently $1,613 per troy ounce. Slightly more expensive than silver, lol. I can't say why I don't like gold. It might be because gold is a warm color and silver is a cool color. I've always gravitated toward cool colors- blues and greens and purples.

Over the summer I started experimenting with copper when silver prices got too high. Copper is very cheap and I can buy it in large quantities from a local craft store like Michaels. I can produce a large amount of jewelry, but I have to sell it cheaper than the silver items. 'Costume Jewelry' has always turned me off, I never liked the idea of cheap or 'fake' jewelry. However copper has been a big surprise. It is easy to work with and creates a really unique look. And the best thing? Wearing copper is GOOD FOR YOU! Copper is a natural mineral found in the human body and a copper deficiency can be detrimental to your health. Copper is very soft and wearing copper jewelry allows your skin to absorb some of the mineral and utilize it in your body. While it still feels cheap and not as classy as silver, I have grown to love copper and will continue to work with it.

So I should have a nice package of goodies arriving sometime next week. It's very exciting to get a box full of silver wire and components...it's a box bursting with potential! I'll be trying a new ring design with the patterned half-round wire. I'm planning to cut 3 or 4 inch sections and wrap them around the ring mandrel once with the ends laid parallel to each other on the top of the ring- sort of on a diagonal. It may or may not work! I don't know if the wire will be strong enough to hold the shape, I've never worked with it before. I honestly am not even sure what I'm getting with this patterned wire- I'm expecting it to be a chunky piece of wire but I could be very wrong. Either way, I'll figure out something to do with it! I can't wait for the delivery...there's nothing like diving into a box of fresh silver... :)

It All Starts Here...

Self-employment. The ultimate dream. Doing business while you're in your pajamas. Making money for yourself, not for someone else.

Welcome to my blog, you're gonna freaking love it! I will be posting bi-weekly, on Tuesday and Thursday nights. This will be a challenge for me as I don't like schedules. At first I thought weekly would be enough, but then I figured bi-weekly would be better to hold your attention. I certainly can't do daily postings, I don't have that kind of time! Another hurdle will be keeping my postings concise and focused on a certain topic... I do tend to ramble once I get typing... tangent anyone??

The idea for Silver Current Designs began when I found  myself suddenly unemployed at the end of 2009. Having been 'let go' from a non-profit org because I was unhappy (really, that's the reason they gave me), I had plenty of time to develop my hobby of jewelry making. Since then I have bounced around between unemployment, employment and self-employment. Currently I hold a full-time office job, not too demanding, not too challenging; fairly mindless work which allows me to direct most of my energies toward this project.

I began a website in early 2010 to sell my handmade jewelry. Posted a few items, then didn't touch it for over a year. This past summer I have been making more jewelry and have been adding items to the site little by little. I have not had any sales so far on the website. One of the biggest problems with the site is lack of merchandise, but I'll get into that at a later date. I did some vendor shows in 2010 with some successes, some utter failures. Finding my audience and finding appropriate venues to sell my jewelry and art work is an ongoing ordeal.

With this blog I will be documenting my experiences in developing a small business, my adventures in the world of craft shows, sharing amusing vendor show anecdotes (wait til I tell you about the Pickle Guy), celebrating my successes, cursing my failures, and passing on any wisdom I have gleaned. I will evaluate myself and try to determine if I have the self-discipline necessary to be a successful business owner. Part of the reason I chose to start a blog was to motivate myself. I am hoping it will force me to be active in developing my business, otherwise I will have nothing to write about!

Future postings will involve a variety of topics- I'll try to keep them related to the business and website but my mind does wander... Subjects will include registering a business name, purchasing materials, creative thought processes, work/production schedules, craft shows, Etsy, metal market prices, taxes and finances (and the big bad IRS), painting inspiration, various muses and the purchasing of multi-million dollar properties around the world (look for that last one in a few years). I have to say there will most likely be the occasional social commentary or political outburst, sometimes I just can't help it!

This is my journey. This is my adventure. Life is for taking chances, for pursuing your dreams, and for striving to reach your fullest potential. It's gonna be an interesting ride!

Hematite Bracelet